Saturday, February 19, 2005

The Berlin Film Festival and the Berlinale Talent Campus were awesome and inspiring to say the least...thanks to all the organisers, established film professionals who shared and my colleagues from the world over...answering to Dieter Kosslick simple yet profound words...much love to you all and allow me to call you my friends...lets make films not war.

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

Re-bit...from Berlin city. Hello everyone from Berlin City. I am here as part of the Berlinale Talent Campus, a part of the Berlin Film Festival. It's a gathering of over 500 young and some not so young people with eager hearts, great ambition, inspired ideas and dreams of filmmaking to mingle, mix and learn to further realise their as yet buried or half buried potential.

11th February. When I arrived here, it wasn't as cold as I expected...maybe it's just the physcology of being told it's very cold and having expected the worst, I encountered much less. Straight away I prowled the streets but my wallet I kept tightly in my pocket as buying anything aside from the prerequisites of survival that's food is an absolute no due to the currency exchange which meant everything was expensive...It was not snowing here and I was actually asking people are we already heading towards springs or are we in winter...we are in winter...snow is an add on.

12th February.The second day I was suddenly struck down though....I just awoke badly and right after breakfast I vormitted. The weather became rainy and much colder than the first day as if God was turning down the termostat in response to my bickering that it wasn't cold. I ran to the toilet and vormitted a total of five times the second day...some caucasian guy actually pat me on the back and said...rough night? take it easy...It wasn't a rough night at all...I didn't drink or anything...

Second day con't. I want to eat. It was the most horrid of feelings... I am cold and hungry and vormittish. I can't eat cause I'll vormit and I am hungry cause I am cold and you'll get the picture....I just told myself...pull through and suffered the day...trying to sleep it off at the most uncomfortable way on a couch and still trying to look presentably decent...not to just slough away with my feet dangling in the air. But the people were nice...the berlinale organizers were wary of me being ill and brought me back to rest...on the way home,I decided to buy lunch anyway but in burger king I didn't make it to the bathroom and the cleaner lady was right infront of me when I did you know what... she came to my aid and brought me to the bathroom and gave me tissues after. I offered apologies to her nods.

13th February. Off the topic of vormits and ills....on the third day I picked it up...I began to eat more ( I was eating to a point where I think stop...better a little than to puke it all out. a little being a mere spoonful) and feeling much better. I guess I've adjusted. The Berlin Film Festival is awesome with happenings pepperred all over the city with a feeder bus tying the knots. Everywhere you'll see the unmistakable teddy ( a bear, the mascot of the festival) As I heard, Berlin film Festival are with the grand ambition of overtaking Cannes as the main european film festival in a few years...the Berlinale is awesome too. Everything is well though out at the Berlinale, there is this wild room where anyone can show their work, many lectures, screenings and workshops were going on at any one time and there big names in the industry came out and with eager enthusiasm buddy-buddy with us kids. It snowed today...my first time seeing snow but I didn't just ran out to play with fears of aggravating what happened yesterday.

14th February. Tired but happy. I am watching so many shorts listening to so many people...it's a great time but nontherless tiring like any endeavour. Saw a good short today called turkey girl about a girl having to offer a pet turkey to a doctor as a girt (bribe ) to cure her mother. Unwilling and unconsolable but inevitable she finally does give in asking her boyfriend to slaughter the turkey as she doesn't want it to be done in the hads of a stranger. He does so. The nest day as the girl went to see the doctors with her baskets of gifts she learns that the doctor a vegetarian! I liked how these simple minute focused life story are so good at emphasizing the humanity and the heart...

At night, we had the talent on Red carpet where we are brough en bulk like sheep to the red carpet of the berlin film festival to be flooded by cheers and cameras for us to have a feel what it'll probably be like one day when we return to Berlin...old hopefully not too old and established. The treatment be great had I deserved it....but now it felt funny....In the jam packed red carpet, Dieter Kosslick climbed up on a ladder and spoke to us all... his words rang with great resonance and though I cannot transcribed it word for word it went ...this is a difficult industry, make contact, make friends, learn to work together, respect each other and love each other....with that I bid you all love from the Berlin Film Fest!

Friday, February 04, 2005

Wednesday, February 02, 2005

I like frogs ever since I spent days as a kid fishing for tadpoles in the small pool created by water stuck in the basins underneath the flagpole in my mum's school outside where I lived. I lived in a teacher's flat up to five years old.The tadpoles and little froglets...it caught my facination...

When I moved to my family home(still is today) there was this lamppost outside and a patch of grass...you could go out there sit awhile and in mere moments,you'll see frogs hoping about...kinda tranquil with moonlight and all... could have been romantic had I not been alone...

In college, I decided to make a little film called demolition frog...it was really successful...so that cemented my love and association to frogs.

I think I am like a frog as I come from Sarawak, a rather green little city (frogs in green grass) I like my temperament to be like Kermit (the frog) I am often misunderstood in my ideology ( frogs are often misunderstood as ugly) and I hope to grow up and make my family proud one day (the frog becoming a prince) as well as get a princess in my arms...(hey every frog needs one no?)

About Me

Living Life to the full...I hope to live by the principle that success doesn't mean making a tonne of money though I am blessed that i do make a decent sum...but success equates to appreciateing all the God given wonder this world has to offer before my time is up...